FAITH, SUFFERING, MARTYRDOM, AND JOY

Will faith overcome all? In the long run, yes, by His mercies! However, now we have to endure many hardships. The Old Testament saints had faith, but they also had great hardships:

·       Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:36-38)

Faith did not deliver them from misfortune, but they were heroes of the faith.

Here’s how Paul described the heroic Christian life:

·       But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:7-11; ESV)

According to Paul, we need such afflictions in order to make us more like Jesus. And the afflictions aren’t just a momentary sting. Paul claims that our lives “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus.”  We are “always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake.”

Yet the same Paul proclaims the very opposite:

·       Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

How is it possible that we are “always given over to death” and yet we can experience “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” – the joy that comes as we trust in our Lord?

·       May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

Evidently, we can experience blessedness even as we experience suffering. Jesus also presents us with portraits of these two extreme – suffering and joy:

·       Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

However, this is a peace that accompanies the most profound tribulations:

·       Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:32-33)

How can peace coincide with great tribulations? It comes through what we know and understand. Jesus taught us to “take heart; I have overcome the world.” This is a truth that we must embrace if we are to have peace.

Nevertheless, I must confess that I am not experiencing much peace now as my blood pressure has been skyrocketing. My heart is beating so hard that I cannot sleep. I think of my grandmother and father who both had experienced a series of strokes, which eventually took them down. I am terrified, but my eyes – not my feelings – are on my Lord.

Following the Lord is no guarantee against severe trials. Job, the most righteous man on the earth had experienced the worst trials. Even Paul had to suffer a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from becoming proud (2 Cor. 12). In Psalm 119, King David wrote about all of these perspectives – the suffering, his obedience to the Lord and love for His Word, and even the blessedness of those who abide by His Word:

·       Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! (Psalm 119:1)

·       Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165)

This is perplexing. Despite David’s claim that the faithful experience “great peace,” it seems that he is not experiencing this peace:

·       My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! (Psalm 119:25)

·       My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! (Psalm 119:28)

·       Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. (Psalm 119:39)

·       My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes. How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me? (Psalm 119:82-84)

·       I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word! (Psalm 119:107)

·       Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. Psalm 119:153  

Is it possible to reconcile these seemingly contradictory verses found within the same Psalm? Yes! They work together. The Bible assures us that we can experience God’s peace in the midst of the worst afflictions. Elsewhere, David describes his suffering and also his blessedness in the same breath:

·       If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. (Psalm 119:92-93)

We often find this curious association of suffering and peace in the lives of the martyrs. The martyr Stephen must have been experiencing great pain as he was being stoned to death. However, this did not deter his confidence and faithfulness:

·       And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:59-60)

Stephen’s heroic martyrdom was not unusual. They were common in the early church. “The Martyrdom of Polycarp” (edited) records:

·       All the martyrdoms which God allowed to happen…were blessed and noble. Who could not admire their honor, their patience, their love for the Lord? They were whipped to shreds till their veins and arteries were exposed, and still endured patiently, while even those that stood by cried for them. They had such courage that none of them let out a sigh or a groan, proving when they suffered such torments they were absent from their bodies – or rather that the Lord then stood by them and talked with them. By the grace of Christ they despised all the cruelties of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by the suffering of a single hour. The fire of their savage executioners appeared cool to them, because they fixed their eyes on their escape from the eternal unquenchable fire and the good things promised to those who endure – things ‘which ear has not heard, nor eye seen, nor the human heart imagined’ but were revealed to them by the Lord. They were no longer men, but had already become angels. In the same way, those who were condemned to the wild beasts endured dreadful torture. Some were stretched out on beds of spikes. Others were subjected to all kinds of torments, all in the Devil’s attempt to make them deny Christ. https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/polycarp/

·       The heroic Germanicus encouraged the weak by his own endurance, and fought bravely with the wild animals: when the Proconsul tried to persuade him to cooperate for the sake of his own youth, he drew the wild beast towards himself and provoked it, in order to escape more quickly from this wicked world.

Paul had written that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more (Romans 5:20). While he wrote this in regards to our sins, I think it also applies to our suffering so that when suffering abounds, grace abounds even more. This had been the lesson Paul had learned in regards to his afflictions:

·       But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

We regard suffering as an enemy and a threat. However, in God’s hands, they become friends bearing healing medicine.

Sometimes, I am frightened and wonder what’s going wrong. However, I remind myself that I am in His lovingly protective hands:

·       What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)

I will, therefore, trust in the Lord even as I pass through strange and often incomprehensible valleys of the shadow of death.

Happiness: Do-Good-Feel-Good

While most agree that a greater level of happiness can be obtained by changing the way we live, I think that it requires far more than a change of actions. For instance, psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky sets forth eight suggestions for better mental health (happiness).  Perhaps the most popular one is to “Practice acts of kindness.” She writes:

• These should be both random (let that harried mom go ahead of you in the checkout line) and systematic (bring Sunday supper to an elderly neighbor). Being kind to others, whether friends or strangers, triggers a cascade of positive effects – it makes you feel generous and capable, gives you a greater sense of connection with others and wins you smiles, approval and reciprocated kindness – all happiness boosters. (Time, January 17, 2005)

She is correct about the payoff. We even derive satisfaction when we give a stranger directions. We can even get the payoff when the stranger doesn’t even have a chance to acknowledge our good deed.

Walking down the street, I saw a driver pulled from his car, about 30 yards in front of me, and repeatedly punched. A crowd was watching the “entertainment.” I screamed repeatedly, “Police – Get down of the ground,” at the top of my feeble voice. The assailant immediately fled, and I resumed walking. No one congratulated me, but I felt good about what I had done.

However, this strategy – do-good-feel-good – has its limitations. For one thing, there is the law of diminishing returns. The pay-off decreases. The “cascade of positive effects” no longer seems to flow as it once had. This strategy might work admirably in the short-run, but eventually, we become weary of well-doing.

I worked for the New York City Department of Probation for 15 years. I signed on for the same reason that many others had. We wanted to help others get back on their feet. But we also wanted to feel good about what we were doing.

However, there are few people who become as jaded as social workers. Why is this so, if we are helping others? Perhaps we are helping them for the wrong reasons. While there is nothing the matter with doing-good-feeling-good, this strategy will produce disappointment if it’s our main motivator.

For one thing, it’s not that easy to help others. If we become a social worker to do-good-fell-good, we are therefore going to be disappointed. For one reason or another, our clients fail to comply with our expectations. They do not noticeably change. In fact, even when we think that we are making progress, they will eventually thoroughly disappoint us, depriving us of our payoff.

Many social workers therefore get burn-out, hate their clients, and perform their jobs with noticeable disgust.

Similarly, atheists often adopt the do-good-feel-good moral code. They don’t believe in an ontological good or bad – moral absolutes that exist independently of human thinking – but they try to act in a “good” manner for the payoff. They might call it “enlightened selfishness” or “pragmatism,” But it comes down to the same thing – do-good-feel-good. However, the diminishing payoff is not substantial enough to support this lifestyle, and it is gradually abandoned.

Besides, if we are only doing good for the payoff, it is not really good. Instead, it’s self-centered. Relationships cannot survive on such flimsy stuff. Commitment to higher principles must provide the necessary glue. We cannot bail out of our commitments when we are not getting the expected payoff, when the “cascade of positive effects” becomes a trickle.

Love says, “I’ll stay beside you even if you break down, even when you are terminally ill.” Biblical love doesn’t depend upon the payoff. It knows that pleasing God is enough of a payoff, even when we hurt. The conviction that I was doing the right thing with my probationers had to be my primary payoff.

I even suspect that our high divorce rate of 50% is largely due to this pay-off philosophy. Consistent with the understanding of do-good-feel-good, many marriage counselors give their couples exercises – performing acts of kindness - to jump start their relationships.

I am not saying that these exercises can’t be used profitably. They can. But if they are used with the expectation that it will always “win you smiles,” you will be greatly disappointed. Your partner will eventually catch-on and realize that you are using these techniques to selfishly get what you want.

If you only bring your wife flowers to obtain certain favors, she will eventually regard your flowers as manipulation and will cringe at your gift. Instead, love is a matter of giving when there is no expectation of getting your payoff.

How then can we live unselfishly? How can we transcend the shallow do-good-feel-good way of life? At this point, I must confess that – naturally speaking - I am a selfish person. Last month a stranger asked me for directions, but before I could open my mouth, another person overheard the request and jumped in, preempting me. I left in a huff. He had deprived me of my satisfaction!

We all want our payoff. How then can we defer gratification and live in an other-centered manner? For me, this only becomes possible if I am convinced that an all-benevolent Savior is looking out for me. I can only begin to forsake immediate gratification because I am convinced that He is my ultimate gratification.

Happiness, Life, and Faulty Substitutes

Happiness depends on many factors, most prominently, nature (genes) and nurture (early childhood experiences). However, there is a growing consensus that the way we live also profoundly affects our mental well-being.

If we live for #1 and abuse others to get what we want, we also abuse our conscience and must harden it so that it will not bite us. This alienates us from both our own humanity and others. However, if we do good to others, we reap satisfaction. One student confided that he used to go to work with an unapproachable scowl between his ears, but then he began doing little acts of kindness to lift the spirits of his co-workers. He now looks forward to going to work.

There are many examples of positive things that can elevate our mental well-being. This very obvious truth has been reaffirmed by countless studies. Researcher Christopher Peterson therefore concludes:

• Giving makes you feel good about yourself…giving puts meaning into your life. You have a sense of purpose because you matter to someone. (Time, Jan. 17, 2005)

However, there are other positive things that we can do to lift our spirits. University of California psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky lists eight “satisfaction guaranteed” practical suggestions:

1. Count your blessings.
2. Practice acts of kindness.
3. Savor life’s joys.
4. Thank a mentor.          
5. Learn to forgive.
6. Invest time and energy in friends and family.
7. Take care of your body.
8. Develop strategies for coping with stress and hardships.

Eventually, I want to evaluate all of these suggestions, but let’s start with “Count your blessings.” Lyubomirsky writes:

• One way to do this is with a “gratitude journal” in which you write down three to five things for which you are currently thankful – from mundane (your peonies are in bloom) to the magnificent (a child’s first steps). Do this once a week, say, on Sunday night. Keep it fresh by varying your entries as much as possible. (Time)

It’s undeniable that gratitude and the positive thinking that accompanies it will lift the mood. If you doubt it, just do a little thought experiment. Meditate on a painful rejection. Then meditate about someone who loves you. Different set of feelings, right?

However, we are also truth-seeking beings. It is therefore difficult to take comfort in the one person who loves you when the rest of the world rejects you. Likewise, it’s difficult to be grateful that “your peonies are in bloom” if you are terminally ill and have no visitors.

In other words, we don’t have the ability to manipulate our thought life without limit in hope of obtaining joyful feelings. Reality imposes certain constrains upon our hopes and desires.

Consequently, the “gratitude journal” might yield some immediate positive results, but if we aren’t convinced that we have something to be grateful about, the journal will fall to the wayside along with many other self-help interventions.

Instead, gratitude is a powerful force if we are convinced that there is a rational basis for gratefulness. Therefore, if we are terminally ill but are convinced that our sins are forgiven and we are going to heaven, we have a solid and unshakable basis for gratitude.

In conjunction with gratefulness, Lyubomirsky suggests “4. Thank a mentor”:

• If there’s someone whom you owe a debt of gratitude for guiding you at one of life’s crossroads, don’t wait to express your appreciation – in detail and, if possible, in person.

This can mean a lot to a “mentor,” and you will probably take great pleasure in seeing how much it might mean to him/her. However, this suggestion also has its limitations. For one thing, how many mentors can we have? Not many.

Perhaps we can stretch things a bit and include many others into this category of “mentor” or others for whom we are thankful. However, if begin to express gratefulness, when we really aren’t grateful, we will probably begin to feel like a hypocrite. After all, we would be using another person in a disingenuous way for our own emotional well-being.

Of course, we do this type of thing all the time and justify it, telling ourselves, “Well, I’m not hurting anybody. In fact, I’m making them feel good about themselves.”

This is not entirely true. When we act deceptively, we know it and undermine the very purpose of our deception – to feel better about ourselves. Besides, people aren’t such fools. They can sense our manipulations and will feel uncomfortable with them.

Instead, we must be genuine. However, there is a way to be genuine and continuously thankful at the same time. If we are convinced that we have a God who loves us and will never leave us and is working all things for our benefit, we can be genuinely grateful.

We can also be grateful for the difficult people in our lives. For one thing, as we get closer to God, our eyes open to the fact that we too are difficult people. Therefore, knowing this and the forgiveness of God, we cannot despise anyone. Rather, we can be grateful, knowing that our Lord uses even the difficult people – not just the mentor - and difficult situations to mold us into better people. Therefore, we can honestly tell our family member, “I am grateful that you are in my life. OK, it hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve learned a lot through you and trust that God has a purpose for putting us together.”

I am glad that “positive psychology” has come to embrace the very principles that are found in the Bible. However, they cannot receive the full benefit of following these principles if they are not related to the Savior. These principles are His principles and cannot be maximally applied without Him.

Similarly, a chainsaw uses great amounts of oil. I found a way to run my chainsaw on used motor oil, which didn’t cost me a cent. However, eventually my chainsaw ground to a halt. It hadn’t been designed to use used motor oil.